U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a man who they say was carrying a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck.
Philan-Tam-Duy Le of Julian, California, was arrested on suspicion of “carrying a dangerous weapon” and being in possession of the guillotine, Capitol Police said in a news release.
Police said Le, 35, drove to Washington from California.
“USCP investigators are going through the suspect’s background to learn more about why he came to Washington,” police said in their news release.
Le’s truck was spotted near the Capitol and the Supreme Court, where officers say it was illegally parked.
Congress is in recess, meaning lawmakers are in their home districts, not in Washington.
An Instagram account that appeared to belong to Le included a Story on Tuesday afternoon featuring a video of a man with the guillotine outside FBI headquarters in Washington.
“Outside the FBI building, just eating some cheese pizza,” the man says in the video. The post included the caption “Guillotine adventures” and said, “Capital hill next.”
Capitol Police often make arrests beyond the Capitol grounds, and those incidents are not necessarily politically motivated.
